Be My Escape
by blackhawk68
Summary: 19 years ago, Katsumi Wakahisa defected from his village with his twin toddlers and took refuge in Konohagakure. He was welcomed. It wasn't long before he had proven himself a talented shinobi, rising to ANBU Captain. The next 4 years were paradise, especially when he met Akemi, who would become the mother of his 3rd child. Then paradise became Hell when the Kyuubi came.
1. Chapter 1

**I've had this story on my hard drive for a very long time but I just never felt like I should put it up. Then I thought, "Well, fuck, might as well." Hence this. **

**Fair warning, I'm going to take Naruto and put my own spin on it. I've always liked the idea and I thought that maybe I'd take it and make it a little more mature. Yes, it's a OC-joins-Team-7 fic, but I'm going to do my hardest to not make it like a lot of the really bad others. **

**So, that means descriptive death, blood, gore, harsh/coarse language, and all that jazz. I mean, they're ninjas. They kill people. _It's their job to kill people_. In canon, they put off anyone in Team 7 killing someone until Shippuden and, while I understand that it is, in essence, a kid's show, that just doesn't make sense to me. So I'm changing some things. I'm gonna mix some things up. If there's something in this story that doesn't match up with what you know, it's probably because I changed it. I'm not going to tell you everything now, but I'll just start off with this before we begin: **

**I've bumped the genin's ages up, like, one year. If that. That means _Naruto is 13, Sakura is 14, and Sasuke is 13 and the main character is 15_. Kakashi's age stays 25 though. This may seem unneeded and minuscule compared to some things you'll find out but I promise it'll be somewhat important later and it mostly has to do with how 11-12 year old just seem way to immature for killing people for a living. If you calculate it out, that would make them around 13-14 when they finally hit Chunin and I figure that's the rank you start having to kill people every now and then on missions. This way, at least they've already started their teen years and they're a little more stable, mentally and physically, for something like being a hired assassin. **

_**Anyway, with that said, I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto owns absolutely everything that you recognize. Makoto, her family, and all of her family's original abilities, however, are mine. Any wish or want to use anything associated with them should be submitted as a request to me. **_

The hazel eyes of Makoto Wakahisa stared up at the ceiling in an odd mix of boredom and curiosity. She was curious because she'd been there for nearly an hour now and her Sensei had yet to show up. But also bored because there was nothing to do other than listen to a desperate pinkette trying to get the attention of a broody kid and the complaints that seemed to flow from a loud, orange jumpsuit-wearing knucklehead.

The screech of a chair being dragged across the floor caused Makoto to wince and sit up, sliding her feet from the desk in front of her. Arms folded, she sweat dropped when she saw Naruto balancing on one foot to wedge a chalk eraser in the crack of the door. Sakura rolled her eyes at the blonde's antics while Sasuke scoffed.

"There's no way a _Jonin_," the Uchiha stressed the rank, "would fall for such a stupid-"

Before the dark-haired boy could finish his sentence, a hand opened the door, causing the eraser to dislodge and land with a dull thud on a head of silver, gravity-defying hair. Makoto couldn't resist grinning a small grin as a cloud of leftover chalk formed while Sasuke grimaced. The brunette rolled her eyes at Sakura as she started apologizing to the man she presumed to be their Sensei. Getting up, the oldest of the group made her way over.

"Oh, come on," Makoto deadpanned, now watching a hysterical Naruto roll around on the floor with dull amusement, "you know you enjoyed it."

Said pinkette '_humph_'ed, glaring at the older girl. Simply brushing off the death stare, Makoto looked over at the man with observant eyes.

He wore the standard Jonin uniform, green vest and all. The man's hair was an odd silvery grey and spiky to the point of defying the laws of gravity. The headband around his forehead, like all of the others, had the Hidden Leaf symbol carved into the metal but it was crooked, covering his right eye. A dark mask reached up to the bridge of his nose. Combined with his forehead protector, he had effectively blocked all physical features of his face - with the exception of one coal gray eye - from view. Makoto couldn't help but file this away in her mind under Possible Further Use, or PFU, as she had abbreviated it.

'_Wait a minute,'_ Makoto tipped her head to the side in thought as the man began to look familiar. '_Mask; check. Tilted forehead protector; check. Gravity defying silver hair; check… Ahhhhhh, shit inna bucket, we're fucked!'_

"My first impression of you all….hmmm, how can I say this?" he spoke in mock thought, having slipped into the classic Thinking Pose, before continuing bluntly, "I hate you all."

Naruto went to look over at Makoto curiously when he heard a small noise of disbelief come from her direction but found her gone.

"Uh, Mako-chan?" the blonde questioned, spotting her in a corner near him.

The teen was squatting there with her back to them. Makoto looked at the younger over her shoulder as tendrils of what looked like shadows stretched out to them, face nearly covered by another shadow that had fallen over the top half of her face. Naruto lifted a hand weakly to ask if she was alright when one of the shadows started inching toward one of his feet. The blonde yelped and jumped back, quickly hiding behind Sakura. This brought both Sakura's and Sasuke's attention over to the oldest of the group. The three looked over at the silver haired man after a few seconds of confused assessment, all with very large sweat drops and one large question mark floating above their heads. The Jonin only gave them a single, closed-eye smile.

"Follow me," was the only thing he said before disappearing out the door he had come through not even ten minutes before.

Sasuke was, unsurprisingly, the first to recover from the sudden mood swing of Makoto. He merely shoved his hands into his pant pockets and walked out of the room, muttering something about 'idiotic teammates' under his breath.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out, caught off guard.

The pink-haired girl soon raced out the door in pursuit of the Uchiha. Naruto, after a few seconds, noticed that his crush had left him and startled when a hand rested itself on his shoulder momentarily before retreating. He blinked a couple times and watched the black rosebud on the back of Makoto's shirt as she too walked from the room, now seemingly back to normal.

"H-hey!" he yelled. "Guys! Wait up!"

Makoto didn't hear him as she walked behind Sasuke, Sakura, and their sensei.

'_There's no way,'_ she denied both her Instincts and her knowledge, _'There's no way that the freaking Copy Ninja is our sensei.'_

Makoto's gaze lowered to the floor in thought. Both her sister and her brother had warned her about her sensei this morning, but they hadn't been very specific. At all, really. They had only said that Makoto might have a hard time with the sensei depending on the teammates she was paired with.

'_What else had they said?'_ Makoto frowned in concentration, unknowingly having started counting the steps that had appearing in her line of vision. _'Jesus Christ onna crutch, this is gonna bother me for days…'_

Finally, the five of them arrived at a small section of the roof, Naruto in toe after having caught up to the rest of them. Makoto looked around her briefly.

The part of the roof they were at was guarded by metal railing and had some trees planted in little squares of grass behind them among the concrete. A bit farther in front of the trees were three or four steps. Sasuke had chosen to sit on the topmost step, mouth leaning on intertwined hands with his elbows on his knees. Naturally, Sakura had chosen to sit near the Uchiha, though down on the step after the first. The pinkette brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Makoto noted that her attention was actually on their sensei rather than Sasuke and grinned internally.

_'Maybe she has the potential of _not_ being a rabid fangirl…'_

Naruto, surprisingly, picked the opposite side of the dark haired male and also sat on the second step. Sighing inaudibly, Makoto chose to place herself next to Naruto, laying down on the steps and resting one hand behind her head while the other rested across her stomach, crossing her ankles while she was at it. She situated so the hood of her shirt was being used as a pillow along with her hand and the concrete steps were a bit more comfortable. Makoto closed her eyes but soon opened them again when Naruto snickered.

"What?" the oldest asked, slightly irritated.

Naruto grinned at Makoto.

"You hang around Shikamaru too much, Mako-chan," the blonde informed her, grin now turning mischievous.

Makoto rolled her eyes and waved him off with her unoccupied hand, though the affect was countered by the quiet chuckle that followed. A mutter of 'idiots' was heard from nearby. Makoto rolled her eyes again, this time in annoyance, before looking over at Naruto and winked.

"Uchiha, you're just jealous," Makoto spoke with casual ease.

Sakura made an affronted noise and Naruto's grin returned.

"In your dreams, Wakahisa," Sasuke retorted, monotone.

Makoto's grin widened into a smirk, seeing an opening.

"I didn't say you were jealous of Naruto-kun, Emo Boy."

The result of such a simple comment was enormous. Sakura made an odd squeal of disgust hiding her face in her hands and Naruto was launched into loud laughter, nearly falling over. Sasuke stiffened considerably.

"Hey, I didn't miss that little steamy bit in the classroom."

Naruto's laughter faded and he looked over at Makoto in slight horror.

"Maaaakooooo-chhhaaannnn!" he groaned, though was soon drowned out by Sakura loud voice.

"Ugh, you're so _disgusting_, Wakahisa!"

Though the reaction was very momentary, something flooded through hazel eyes before disappearing. Makoto just grinned more and shrugged. The four's sensei, who had remained silent through all of this, looking on and assessing, was the only one who saw it. The silver haired man's visible eye narrowed ever so slightly on Makoto, who popped open an eye and met the gaze momentarily before closing it again.

"Ah, I apologize, Sensei," Makoto told the man, "it was an opportune moment I couldn't pass up."

Their sensei just shrugged, the other three's attention back on him, though there was still a distinctly green hue to Sakura's face.

"Let's begin with introducing yourselves," he stated more than suggested.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura counteracted automatically.

Makoto, who had decided to keep her eyes open lest she did pull a Nara and fall asleep, watched as their sensei shrugged again.

"Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies," the Jonin listened off flippantly. "Things like that."

Makoto jerked an eyebrow up momentarily, beginning to question if this was actually the Copy Ninja.

"Hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?" Naruto suggested.

"Yeah, he looks kind of suspicious…" Sakura spoke in an undertone.

Makoto simply couldn't resist.

"That'd be the mask, dear one."

Ignoring the glare that the cherry blossom sent the brunette's way, Makoto leaned back against the steps again, gazing up but zeroing in on everything the man said.

"Alright," he conceded, "Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake…I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes…dreams for the future, hmm…and I have lots of hobbies."

Four large sweat drops appeared on each Genin head. Makoto pushed back the need to slam her head onto the concrete repeatedly. But before anyone could voice their disagreements, Kakashi went on.

"So, let's start from the right."

Makoto sighed and sat up, silently regretting her decision to sit next to Naruto.

"My name is Makoto Wakahisa," the hazel eyed teen started out. "I like puppies and long walks on the bea-"

"Wakahisa."

Makoto looked over at Sasuke, who had been the one to speak up.

"Seriously," the Uchiha deadpanned when he was sure he had the older girl's attention.

For a moment, they stared at each other, neither moving and completely motionless, before Makoto rolled her eyes, breaking eye contact. Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi watched this in jealousy, confusion, and amusement, respectively.

"Fine, fine," the teen muttered, for once not putting up a fight. "I actually like music and reading. I dislike bright colors and people with superiority complexes. My hobbies are training and writing."

A period of silence followed as the rest waited for a dream to be added to the predetermined list. An unseen frown appeared on Kakashi's face when Makoto leaned back against the steps again and closed her eyes, obviously not planning on saying any more.

"Dreams?" Kakashi finally prompted.

Once again, a hazel eye, now more tinted brown and guarded, popped open.

"They aren't important."

It was a simple statement that shouldn't have really made the impact it did. Sakura looked at the older girl in slight confusion, wondering what in the world that was supposed to mean while Sasuke hid his frown behind his hands, thoughts, for once, on the same level, if not a little more intelligently. Naruto, on the other hand, looked at Makoto blankly. Silently, the blonde promised himself to find out just what was eating at one of the few people who didn't look at him with cold eyes. Kakashi once again watched the brunette with an unyielding eye.

"Next."

The man's voice brought everyone from their thoughts and made Naruto snap to attention. Makoto opened her eyes and turned her head in the hyperactive Genin's direction.

"Right! My name is Naruto Uzumaki," he began. "I like ramen, especially when Iruka-sensei pays. I dislike the three minutes I have to wait to eat cup ramen. And my dream…"

Naruto trailed off momentarily before grinning widely and reaching up to adjust his headband.

"My dream is to surpass the Hokage! Then everyone in this village will have to acknowledge me!" Naruto then rubbed the back of his head and continued, "Hobbies? Eh, pranks, I guess."

Makoto couldn't help but grin at the blonde. He had made such a bold statement, saying that he would surpass the Hokage, then ended it all with little thought to exactly how outrageous it sounded. This was one of the reasons she was able to get along better with the Uzumaki than the Haruno or the Uchiha.

"Blue."

Barring that he looked slightly miffed about being called 'Blue', there was barely a change of expression on Sasuke's face.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are a lot of things I dislike and there's not much I actually like. And…I can't really call it a dream." The young Uchiha paused before continuing, "But I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan and…"

The second pause made Makoto frown but she kept her eyes closed.

"To kill a certain man."

The frown on Makoto's face deepened while Naruto and Sakura looked at their teammate in shock. Taking a peak at Kakashi, Makoto became troubled in seeing that he didn't look shocked or worried. Though faint, the only thing there was a grim, fulfilled expectancy.

"Ok." Kakashi glanced at the four of them, gaze stopping on Sakura. "And lastly, the other girl."

Sakura blinked a couple times and looked away from Sasuke and over to the man.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," the bright-haired girl started before obviously starting to stare at Sasuke out of the corner of her eyes. "The thing I like is….well, the person I like is….And, um, my dream for the future?"

The familiar overwhelming urge to bang her head on the concrete hit Makoto again as the pinkette squealed at whatever she was thinking. Instead, she opted to bring her hand up swiftly to slap her forehead, feeling something akin to shame and embarrassment for the younger girl.

"What I dislike….is Naruto."

At this, Naruto made an odd whimpering noise, though it was promptly ignored by everyone except Makoto, who spared him a pitying look.

"My hobbies…." Sakura once again trailed off, now having turned her head to fully stare at the most dark haired of present company.

"Saaaaaakuuuraaaaaaa…" Makoto groaned, now sitting up with her face in her hands, rubbing at her eyes as her mind went through what Sakura could possibly be thinking about now. She feared that the images had imprinted themselves into the flesh that covered them. _'There goes her potential…'_

Said girl looked over at the brunette with unfriendly eyes.

"What, Wakahisa?" she answered with what sounded like great reluctance.

"Can you, please, yanno, leave absolutely _nothing_ to the imagination? Just for once?"

Sensing a coming argument by the sizeable glare coming from the pink haired one's eyes, Kakashi intervened.

"Ok!" The exclamation effectively drew everyone's attention to the masked man, who inwardly sighed and proceeded, "Tomorrow we start our duties as shinobi."

This seemed to automatically get Naruto's adrenaline going.

"Yeah!" The boy shouted and, oddly enough, saluted, "What kind of duties!?"

"First, we're going to do something with just the five of us."

Makoto arched an eyebrow at him, immediately suspicious. Her Instincts screamed at her that something was up, he was going to pull some kind of card on them. Of course, that could be her paranoia talking.

'_I always have gotten those two confused,_' Makoto thought with distance, Instincts and-slash-or paranoia causing her mind to go a mile a minute. The teen was soon brought back by her blonde teammate asking what they'd be doing together. She barely caught the answer.

"Survival training," Kakashi told them simply.

_'Yep,'_ Makoto sighed internally. _'Definitely up to something.'_

She wasn't the only one confused. Sakura and Naruto had immediately begun to question this and, though he didn't voice anything, Sasuke's eyes narrowed a little. Makoto was sure there was a small frown behind his hands but let it go, turning her focus back to Kakashi and the others.

"Why is our first duty training?" Sakura asked, clearly confused. "We've had enough training at the academy."

The silver-haired man shook his head, a smirk almost visible beneath the dark material of his mask.

"This training is different," he told the four, "This time, I'm your opponent."

"What's so funny, Sensei?" Sakura half questioned, half demanded as said Jonin began to flat out _giggle_.

"Well," he started out, letting out another chuckle. "It's just that, when I tell you, you guys are going to freak out."

"Freak out?" Naruto echoed. "Why?"

Kakashi leaned toward them, and reached up with a hand, finally shifting his arms-and-ankles-crossed position to push up the part of his headband above his uncovered eye. There was definitely a smirk underneath his mask now.

"Of the twenty-eight graduates, only ten will be chosen to become Genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi elaborated to them, "This survival training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over sixty-six percent."

Makoto slowly felt shock and foreboding enter her mind and body, slowly processing everything Kakashi had just said. What did he mean that he'd be their opponent? Were they to fight separately or conjoined? Well, that wouldn't work out well. The four of them were far too at odds with each other to work together. They'd have to do it separately. The man was so far ranked above them, how could they even stand a chance, even on the off possibility that they decided to work together? Makoto glared at the man as he began to laugh quietly again.

A heavy weight had descended in the air while Makoto went through her thoughts, all the while an even heavier presence settled itself in her chest. Though some of the confidence that she had had before slipped away, Makoto leveled her gaze at the Jonin, not really looking at him. It made more sense that way, at least. They were finding the weakest and throwing them back to the academy so that only the capable ones would become true shinobi.

"Alright," Makoto breathed quietly, causing the others to look at her. The oldest noted this but made no move to lighten the atmosphere as she usually would have and continued, "So all that work we did in the academy; it was only to figure out who would have better chances to become Genin. We're going to have to put everything we learned into a much more realistic situation…"

Makoto didn't bother to recognize the shock in her teammates or the twinge of dawning acknowledgement in the Hatake's eye.

_'I can deal with that,'_ the hazel eyed teen finished in her head, not bothering to do so vocally. When this seemed to cross Kakashi's mind, he carried on.

"Anyway, tomorrow, you have to show your real skills on the training ground. Bring all of the shinobi tools you have." The silver haired man paused before adding a warning, "Oh, and don't eat breakfast unless you want to throw up."

He pushed off of the railing and walked toward the group, papers in hand. Makoto, sensing the end of this meeting, stood and received hers. Hazel eyes scanned over the paper carefully. There was little that Kakashi hadn't already said but she folded it a couple times and stuck it in her pocket never the less.

With nothing else said, the man made a hand seal before disappearing with a poof of smoke, leaving a few leaves in his place. Makoto sighed before turning to speak to the others but found two of the three others gone. Watching Sakura run after Sasuke, she frowned before turning to Naruto. The older one didn't get a word in.

"See you tomorrow, Makoto!" Naruto called to her, already a good distance away in the others' direction.

Ignoring the small bit of annoyance that flared, said teen stuffed her hands into her pockets and began walking the opposite way and down a set of steps. She really needed a new team.


	2. Chapter 2

**By the way, I am doing my absolute best to not let Makoto become a Mary Sue. If she seems that way, she won't for long, I promise. **

**Imouto - little sister **

**_I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto owns absolutely everything that you recognize. Makoto, her family, and all of her family's original abilities, however, are mine. Any wish or want to use anything associated with them should be submitted as a request to me._**

* * *

The next day dawned too early for Makoto's liking. Sitting up in her bed, she looked at a nearby clock. It was five-fifteen in the morning. How the hell was she supposed to kill an hour and a half? Grumbling some rather unlady-like things underneath her breath, Makoto crawled out from the blankets and took a quick but thorough shower. Walking out in shorts and an oversized t-shirt, she padded over to her dresser. Opening the top and bottom drawers, she pulled out her usual clothing: dark green shirt, black undershirt, black pants, and belt.

The sleeves of the dark green shirt were long and stopped at Makoto's knuckles. While said sleeves were loose, the torso part of the shirt was tight fitting, but not to the point of suffocation. There was also a black hood attached to the back and a matching, large front pocket. On the back was the Wakahisa symbol, a budding black rose with no stem. Underneath the unbosoming flower was a couple of the same color petals from the bud. It was basically a hoodie, though made of much more light material. The tight fitting torso made it easier to move, as baggy clothing can cause more air resistance, and the light material added to speed and flexibility. The undershirt, unlike the green shirt, had no sleeves but was of the same light material. It was also a tight fit.

The pants were straight leg and only slightly loose, starting out tight at her thighs before flaring out as it went farther down the pant legs. The belt, also black, and though a bit unneeded, was wound firmly through the pant loops. When Makoto had her standard blue sandals on, the pants had the tendency of covering everything but her toes and the ends typically got trampled on, causing a fraying at the ends. There was also a hole at her left knee, though Makoto really couldn't be bothered to fix the fabric. The whole outfit was realistically based on mobility and comfort.

Makoto glanced at the clock again to see it around forty-five minutes more than she had last checked. Growling under her breath at the slow passing time, she attached her black weapons pouch to her right thigh along with her small, dark green medic pouch under it. Going back into the bathroom, the hazel eyed teen opened a cupboard and pulled out a hairdryer. Eyeing the infernal contraption as she plugged it into the wall, Makoto flipped it on and began drying out her auburn hair, knowing that if she didn't, the thick strands would still be half-sopping during survival training.

Several minutes later of half-hearted struggling with trying to dry her hair and yelps of pain caused by trying to brush out knots caused by the drying, Makoto looked in her bathroom mirror at her reflection. Her auburn hair swayed slightly just above her waist, a bit more bushy than usual, a byproduct of using the hairdryer. Soft waves started just around her ears as a result of being brushed out and put into a low ponytail or messy bun while still wet and her bangs hung down and curved slightly at the ends as they reached her chin, parted at the middle of her left eye. Small glints of blonde and red shined in the lighting of the room, otherwise unknown to exist. Two pairs of hazel eyes narrowed before the real version sighed and fixed the strands into the usual messy bun.

Walking out of the bathroom and in the direction of the living-dining room combo, Makoto crossed the hall to enter her bedroom momentarily in order to retrieve her headband and MP3 from her bedside table, putting on her sandals while she was at it. The teen clipped said device to her belt and slipped in her earphones, flicking the power switch to on. After a few seconds of silence, the beginning violin of Thanks For the Memories by Fall Out Boy began to play. A small grin formed on Makoto's face as she locked her small apartment up and launching herself up onto the roof.

"Ready…Set," Makoto muttered calmly to herself, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. After a few minutes, Fall Out Boy faded out and was replaced with Relient K. As it reached its chorus, Makoto's eyes snapped back open, "Go."

With a burst of speed, the brunette lifted off from the roof in a chakra-heightened jump. Her toes barely touched the next roof before she was once again momentarily suspended in air. Once Makoto landed onto another roof of shingles, she hopped down into an alley and tore out of it. The hazel eyed girl never lessened her pace while weaving in and out of the condensing crowds. Though completely engrossed in the music that pumped into her ears, Makoto was just as aware of her surroundings, of each twist and turn, each person she passed, and never once did she touch them, not even a small brush. All the while, the brunette had been running through the survival training details Kakashi had given her yesterday.

Multitasking was something she had learned to do from her siblings long ago and it also turned out to be something Makoto was extremely good at. And, oddly enough, music helped in that matter. Daisuke often liked to tease her about it, saying that if Makoto ever lost her MP3, she'd lose her 'Super Awesome Expert Crowd Weaving Abilities', as he had come to christen it. That is, whenever he and Emiko managed to drop by.

Makoto shook her head, trying to rid the bitter thoughts by focusing on the switch from Paramore's Decode to Paralyzer by Finger Eleven.

_'Being in ANBU is time consuming and dangerous,'_ the youngest of the Wakahisa reasoned to herself, though her words sounded empty and well rehearsed to even her, taking care to run on the edge of the bridge railing and jump to the trees. _'It's not their fault that they don't have much time…' _

The intended ending was left off though a small voice in her head decided to finish it for her.

_'…for you.'_

Makoto promptly visualized kidnapping all the fangirls in Konoha, duct taping their mouths shut, and using cruel means of torture, A.K.A making them believe that Sasuke hated them all and was gay for Kiba. The thought made Makoto grin as she settled in a tree of the appointed training grounds that had been pre-mentioned in those papers. The oldest of the Team Seven Genin laced her fingers and laid them on her stomach and let one leg dangle from her self-appointed branch, leaning back against the trunk of the tree.

_'I could recruit Naruto,'_ Makoto thought idly, closing her eyes, _'Though it would include Sakura, so he probably wouldn't want to.'_

Only a small amount of time passed before the last Uchiha made his approach to the training grounds. As he reached the tree that Makoto rested in, the young Uchiha sighed and sat under the shade of the leaves. There was a slight rustle above him. Startled and relying on instinct, Sasuke jumped away and threw a kunai in that direction. The following result was a yelp, causing the dark eyed teen to arch an eyebrow.

"The fuck!?"

The leaves once again rustled as Makoto jumped down onto the spot where Sasuke once sat. The older girl turned her gaze to her teammate, now sporting a slightly bleeding cut on her cheek and holding up the offending kunai.

"Lose something, Uchiha?" the brunette questioned dryly, throwing it over to him and wiping a bit of blood away.

The boy caught it easily and stashed it back into the pouch on his left thigh, giving his usual 'hn' as his only response. Makoto only rolled her eyes before plopping back down onto the ground and putting the earphones back in. For a bit all that kept the two from lapsing into total silence was the faint sound of Linkin Park coming from Makoto's earphones. Several songs and what was becoming an increasingly irritating silence later, the atmosphere was shattered by a yell loud enough to break the young Wakahisa's musical trance.

"MAAAAAKOOOOOO-CHHHAAAAN!"

Makoto's head snapped to the direction of her blonde teammate as he ran to them.

"Ouuuchhh…" she groaned, rubbing the back of her neck and grimacing.

"Hey! What's up, Ma-" Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and trailed off, staring at Makoto's face, "-ko…chan…"

The girl in question blinked a couple times, clearly confused as she tugged an earphone out of one of her ears.

"S'up, Naruto," the teen unsuccessfully tried to catch his attention and carried on, "What? Is there something on my face?"

Naruto blinked once and met her eyes.

"How'd you get that cut on your face?"

"Oh. That," Makoto muttered. "Uchiha over there threw a kunai at me when I was up in a tree."

"WHAT?!"

Makoto quickly saw the on-coming attack and jumped up, just managing to grab the back of Naruto's jumpsuit as he lunged at the Uchiha.

"Naruto, stop," the older spoke calmly, winding an arm around the shorter teen's chest to help keep him in place. "Calm yourself. Do you really think that I would let Uchiha land a cut on me?"

Naruto stopped struggling for a bit but Makoto could still practically feel the anger that radiated from the boy. A scoff could be heard from Sasuke's direction.

"What was that, Wakahisa?" the darker haired one smirked. "I think it testifies against that."

"You're not _helping_ this, Uchiha," Makoto stated, letting some of the annoyance that was swiftly turning into a well-bottled anger sharpen her voice.

For a second, Sasuke looked ready to retort but Makoto glared at him. Even though he didn't show it, this surprised him. From what he'd witnessed during the academy, Makoto Wakahisa had never been one to actually get riled up about something unless it really got on her nerves. And it was best to stay clear when the rarity were to occur. There had been this one day when Makoto had blown up on Kiba because he kept bugging her on why she didn't get along well with a lot of people, the few exceptions being Hinata, Shikamaru, and Naruto. Needless to say, the whole class had gone completely quiet once she had finished yelling Kiba into a cringing mass of fear. After that, Hinata had tugged on her sleeve to get the infuriated teen to sit back down next to her.

"Are you calm?" Makoto finally spoke after she felt that Naruto had calmed down considerably, though didn't relinquish her grip.

"Yes. I am calm," Naruto answered, his tone surprisingly level.

"Alright." Makoto paused, only lessening her hold slightly. "I'm going to let you go now. No attacking Uchiha, as much as I normally encourage it. _Be good_. "

Naruto nodded his consent and the pressure on his chest that had been keeping him securely in place vanished. When it was clear that he would hold his side of the deal, Makoto also let her hand slip from the collar of Naruto's horribly bright orange jumpsuit and settled herself back into the position that she had been in before Naruto arrived. Just as Naruto joined her beneath the tree, the last member of Team Seven began to make her appearance. She looked at them all curiously, as the atmosphere had maintained a slight tension. Going from Naruto, who was glaring at Sasuke, to said Uchiha, who was standing with his hands in the pockets of his white shorts a few feet away, and finally to Makoto, who had her head leaning back against the trunk of the tree and was mouthing the words of Hurricane, and the cut on her cheek. The pinkette shrugged finally before trotting over to Sasuke and beginning her fruitless attempts to get his attention. Naruto watched her do this but said nothing and didn't move, shifting so his lunch was in his lap while he sat with his legs crossed. Makoto looked at the bento, realization dawning.

"Oh, for the love of the Gods…" the brunette muttered and stood.

Naruto looked at her with curious eyes.

"Where are you going?" he questioned, bringing the attention of Sasuke and Sakura over to the oldest, as Makoto quickly put away her MP3 and started to run in the direction of the village.

"I forgot to pack my bento!" she yelled back to them.

Sakura ran a little bit after her before cupping her hands around her mouth.

"But, you can't leave!" She warned, "Kakashi-sensei could be here any minute now!"

"Don't worry!" Makoto's voice was starting to sound distant to the three now sweat dropping teens, "I won't be long!"

And she was intent on making it. She kicked it into overdrive, reaching the streets of the village in no time. Launching herself up to the roof tops to avoid the now thick crowds down below, Makoto gathered chakra in her feet.

_'Thank you, Daisuke,'_ Makoto praised her brother as she unlocked her door, _'You and Emiko's lessons on chakra control.' _

As she reached the small kitchen of her apartment, the brunette paused. On top of the counter was a bento tied with a dark blue ribbon. Walking over to it, Makoto also saw a note on top and read the small handwriting.

"Good luck today, Imouto," the brunette read aloud, "Daisuke and Emiko."

Makoto couldn't resist the silly grin that spread on her face as she folded the note and tucked it into her pants pocket. Picking up the bento and storing it under her arm, she locked the door before sprinting in the direction of the training grounds. Maybe today wouldn't go as bad as she thought it would.


	3. Chapter 3

_**I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto owns absolutely everything that you recognize. Makoto, her family, and all of her family's original abilities, however, are mine. Any wish or want to use anything associated with them should be submitted as a request to me.**_

* * *

"Hey guys," Kakashi Hatake greeted four rather ill-tempered teens. "Good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed in unison, pointing accusing fingers at their sensei.

Makoto, who had been pacing back and forth for the last hour, joined in with the finger pointing.

"Dude! You were supposed to be here at seven in the morning! SEVEN!" Makoto growled, "You've had us waiting for nearly four hours now!"

Kakashi said nothing as he walked lazily over to one of the nearby stumps and set down a timer on the middle of the three. All anger was forgotten when the man held up two bells, both on separate red ribbons.

"Your task is to take these two bells from me," Kakashi instructed them as he attached them to his waist, "before time runs out. Those that don't get a bell before noon don't get any lunch. Not only will I tie you to one of the stumps, but I'll also eat in front of you."

Makoto frowned as she barely felt the beginnings of hunger edge at her stomach. They had an hour, at most. There was no way they'd be able to do this unless they ganged up on them.

_'Fat chance,'_ the oldest thought grimly, looking over at her teammates, who all seemed much more hungry than she, before looking back at her sensei as he went on.

"You only have to get one bell and, as there are only two, two of you will definitely be tied to stumps. The two who don't get bells fail and will be sent back to the academy. " Kakashi told them, face now completely blank, "You can use whatever weapons but you won't get a bell unless you come at me with an intent to kill."

There was an immediate reaction from Sakura and Naruto while Sasuke and Makoto stayed quiet. The darker of the four sat while Sakura protested due to the supposed danger while Naruto mockingly brought up the chalk eraser incident.

"In the real world, those who bark the loudest often have no talent," Kakashi insulted the loud blonde indirectly. "Ignore Mr. Deadlast and start when I sa-"

He didn't get enough time to finish as Naruto and, to the others' surprise, Makoto charged at the Jonin in anger. Makoto didn't hear Sakura's protest as she brought up the rear behind Naruto, taking out a kunai and throwing it over her long time friend's shoulder. But Kakashi had disappeared the next second.

Makoto swiftly found herself with her back on the dirt with a kunai that was barely an amount of space enough to call distance away from just under her chin, as her headband was around her own neck. Looking out of her peripheral vision, she saw that Naruto was still standing but in a slightly different position. Kakashi had one hand on the top of his head and the other holding Naruto's kunai, hand and all, to the back of the blonde's own neck. Confused, Makoto looked up to find a copy of the silver haired man crouching in front of her with her kunai to her face. Both of the men, Kakashi and his clone, had their head tipped to the side with curious looks in their eyes.

"It seems you're finally ready to come at me with the intent to kill…" A small crease appeared in Kakashi's mask. "I think I'm beginning to like you guys."

There was a poof and one of the Kakashi disappeared as the real one let go of Naruto. Makoto got up and stood, face schooled into a calm mask.

"Ready…"

Makoto tensed along with Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke, ready to jump at the word.

"Begin."

It took less time for Makoto to react than for Kakashi to even say the word. She was into the air and out of sight in the trees a little before the others, perched in one of the large oaks and smothering down her chakra signature.

_'Alright, guys,'_ Makoto's voice was even a whisper in her head as she jumped down from the branch and onto the ground, eyes scanning. _'Where are you?'_

It didn't take long for the brunette to find a certain head of pink hair. Makoto settled next to her and sweat dropped when she saw that Naruto was still standing out in the open, demanding a fight from Kakashi.

"That idiot," she muttered, startling Sakura.

The other girl sent a glare at Makoto, who brushed it off.

"What are you doing here!?" Sakura whispered harshly, clearly annoyed.

"Look, Sakura," Makoto paused, checking to see if Kakashi was still distracted by Naruto, "we need to work together. We won't be able to get a bell if we try to do this on our own. I mean, he's a _Jonin_ for the Gods' sake."

The logic seemed to whiz right past Sakura's head as she shook it.

"Go away before you get me caught!"

Makoto sighed and stayed for a second longer to watch Naruto being sent into a nearby lake before making her retreat. She had wasted time talking to the pinkette and the shout she heard from the girl just after she left had compromised that location. As Makoto passed a tree, there was a glimpse of blue and white. Launching herself over to the branch next to the taken one.

"Uchiha."

Sasuke looked at the hazel-eyed girl and frowned slightly.

"What?"

"We need to work together to get a…" Makoto trailed off when the boy scoffed. Then his eyes narrowed.

"No way…"

Turning her attention back to Kakashi and Naruto, Makoto gaped when she saw several different versions of the blonde. The shock wore off and a grin threatened to overtake Makoto's face.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu…" Makoto muttered as they didn't poof away, drawing Sasuke's attention back to her. Shaking it off, she looked back at the suspicious boy. "There's no way you can do it by yourself. Sure, you're strong but Hatake's a full-fledged Jonin, for Gods' sakes."

"Tch."

When he once again turned his attention back to Naruto and Kakashi, Makoto locked her jaw and pushed back a rising anger. Following the Uchiha's gaze, the youngest Wakahisa watched as Kakashi preformed the Substitution Jutsu, effectively confusing Naruto. Makoto closed her eyes in exasperation when all of the Uzumaki clones started to turn on each other. When all of the clones were gone, the real Naruto sulked before spotting a bell over by a tree.

"He's not really gonna fall for that," Makoto denied. She looked at Sasuke. "Naruto can't be that thick, can he?"

Both watched as he picked up the bell, only to fall for a trap. Makoto groaned silently as a pre-set rope wrapped around one of Naruto's ankles and sent the blonde upside down and hanging from the tree. Sasuke gave Makoto a single look that stated the direct opposite of what she had previously denied. Kakashi appeared not long after, picking up the bell on the ground as Naruto hung there, swinging back and forth slightly.

"Think before you use a jutsu or it could be used against you," Kakashi instructed, tossing the bell up and down in his hand. "Also, don't fall for such obvious traps."

Naruto flailed around, cursing.

"A shinobi must be able to see underneath the underneath," he carried on.

"I know that!"

"I'm telling you because you _don't_ know."

The next second, shuriken were whizzing toward the two. They hit Kakashi dead on.

"Sasuke, you idiot!" Makoto growled, quickly jumping away from the spot. "There's no way he'll fall for that!"

True to Makoto's words, there was a poof and the silvered one was replaced with a log. Distantly, the brunette heard the Uchiha curse. But she was on her way toward Naruto, who was still hanging there and looking at the place where Sasuke had launched the shuriken. He looked pleasantly surprised when he saw Makoto racing toward him. The girl drew a single senbon from her pouch, took aim when she stood in front of the blonde, and threw it, easily hitting the rope. Naruto landed as a heap on the ground.

"Naruto, we need to go after Hatake together," Makoto told him but her words were lost to him.

"Sorry, Mako-chan, but I have to do this on my own," Naruto countered. "Thanks for helping me out."

Before anything more could be said, Makoto's fellow teammate took off. Not so long afterward, a scream was heard.

"Damn," Makoto cursed, once again taking off at a fast sprint.

After a good search, Makoto slowed to a walk in another clearing. She scanned it for a bit and found the source. Walking over to Sakura, who was currently passed out on the ground.

"Sakura." Makoto knelt down, shaking the girl's shoulder. "Sakura!"

"Huh!?"

The girl bolted up and her forehead smacked right against Makoto's, causing her to fall backward, groaning.

"Sasuke-kun! Where'd you go!?" Sakura jumped up, whirling around, trying to look for Sasuke. "Don't leave me behind!"

Makoto watched with one eye closed and the other watering, causing her sight to blur as the pink haired girl ran off.

_'How'd she recover that fast?'_ Makoto questioned herself, head throbbing.

"Gods, Sakura, how did you get such a _hardhead_?" Makoto groaned. "Maybe I should start wearing my headband on my forehead…"

"That could stop future concussions."

Makoto titled her head further back and saw an upside down man reading an orange book. Sighing, the girl rolled over and sat on her heels.

"You saw that, huh?" Makoto muttered, rubbing her forehead. "That is the _last time_ I ever try to wake up a fucking _fangirl_."

"Language."

Makoto rolled her eyes and stood fully.

"You know, I'm surprised that you didn't come after me before now," Kakashi stated, eye still on the pages of the orange book, which Makoto noticed was called Icha-Icha Paradise.

"I was warned about you," Makoto told him. This statement caught Kakashi's attention enough for him to look up at the girl.

"Really now?"

"Yeah." Makoto hadn't shifted her gaze or stance since standing up, completely content on the current situation. "Besides, there's no way I could get a bell alone."

"Why not ask for help?" Kakashi suggested.

Makoto only shrugged.

"Already did," Makoto countered. "But, as it is, Sakura hates me and is too focused on Uchiha, Uchiha is too prideful and focused on getting revenge, and Naruto wants to do it by himself so he can grow stronger to someday surpass the Hokage."

"And what about you?" the Jonin asked, noting that Makoto had left herself out.

"Me?" Makoto blinked, a bit surprised. "I dunno. What am I?"

There was much more to the question than it really seemed and both knew this.

"You're stalling," Kakashi answered, blunt as he put away his book.

Makoto grinned at him. He was wise to not open that _other_ can of worms.

"That I am."

Before Kakashi could question, or Makoto act, any further, a shrill ring echoed throughout the training grounds.

"And time is up," Makoto muttered to herself, feeling almost relieved and turned to walk back to where they all were supposed to go to after time was up.

"I expected better from a Wakahisa."

The girl sighed at her sensei's words, coming to a stop not far from where she had been to begin with. Makoto looked up at the sky. Though her face was a void of all emotion, the wheels in her head where turning. The same thing had been said before by numerous people: Iruka-sensei, Diasuke, Emiko, her father, hell, maybe even the Hokage. And Makoto was getting sick of it because it left a horrible taste in her mouth and there was a pain in her chest every time those damned words reached her ears, no matter what voice said it. Something like a scoff and a growl combined finally escaped her throat but nothing was actually said. Instead, Makoto shook her head and walked to the edge of the clearing before jumping off into the trees.

It didn't take long for the brunette to get there but was met with an unusual sight: Naruto tied to one of the three stumps and pouting slightly. Well, the pouting was normal, but the hyperactive shinobi being tied to a stump? It's just too bad that she didn't have her camera on her. Grinning a grin that didn't quite feel right, Makoto walked over. Promptly ignoring the present pinkette and Uchiha, the hazel eyed teen plopped down next to the former. No less than ten silent minutes later, the silvered Jonin arrived. As if planned, the stomachs of Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke growled, all of them clearly hungry. A faint, sharp pain stabbed at Makoto's own stomach but she ignored it.

"Well, you all look very hungry."

The urge to punch the man in the face had never been stronger. But, thinking of the previous events, Makoto settled for locking her jaw in agitation.

"By the way, something about the training…" Kakashi trailed off rubbing the back of his neck before shrugging. "There's no need for you guys to go back to the academy."

For a second, a small spark of hope flared in Makoto's mind, but quickly died. Kakashi had clearly stated that he was disappointed minutes ago. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling, hazel eyes never left the man, ignoring the celebrating others.

"Yup, all four of you…" the man paused, "should quit as shinobi!"

Something more painful and far more persistent than hunger immediately gnawed at Makoto the moment the words slipped from behind Kakashi's mask. Vaguely, she registered the man calling them all punks and Sasuke charging at the Jonin, only to be put face-first into the dirt. As he finally revealed that the secret was teamwork and that the whole thing had been a set up to get them to work together under the stressed circumstances.

"And yet, you guys…" Kakashi looked up at the four of them, hair hanging in his face slightly, gaze starting on Sakura. "Sakura; instead of Naruto and Makoto, who were right next to you, you only thought of Sasuke, who was far away. Naruto; you were just running around by yourself. Sasuke; you just assumed that every one would get in your way and tried to do everything alone."

Finally, the silvered one's single coal gray eye landed on Makoto. With face blank but eyes raging green and brown fire, the youngest sibling and daughter of three of Konoha's top ANBU operatives met the calculating stare.

"Makoto." Kakashi's eye narrowed as he spoke, "Though you did suggest help from all three, you didn't even try. In fact, you gave up after one attempt each. Instead of facing up to a challenge, you backed down like a coward and used excuses covered by logical thinking."

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Makoto realized this as a backhand compliment though the resulting anger buried that epiphany away in an instant. Though the desire to defend herself rose high up in her throat, she swallowed thickly and kept quiet, eyes downcast as the word 'coward' seemed to bounce off the inner walls of her head. The result was an odd, almost theatrical, echo. It probably would have been cool in any other situation.

"The duties are done by the team. Of course, superior individual ability in important to a shinobi but what's even more important is teamwork." While Kakashi reached back into his weapons pouch, he went on, "Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger. And even get you killed. For example…"

Without hesitation, the Jonin put a kunai to the neck of the Uchiha below him.

"Sakura. Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies."

While he did sound convincing with a calm but threatening tone of voice, Makoto just closed her eyes as Sakura and Naruto freaked out. A second later, the oldest opened her eyes again to see Kakashi put away the kunai and get up, freeing Sasuke, though he laid on the ground for a bit before sitting up and wiping dirt away from his face.

"You see?" The silver Jonin left no room for an answer. "If a hostage is taken you will have tough choices and then die if you don't think quickly. You will be risking your lives in these duties."

As Kakashi began to walk over the memorial stone in the same area as them, Makoto stiffened and finally looked at what she'd been trying to avoid giving any attention to since she had arrived that morning.

The block-like stone was glinting in the sunshine. On the front and back of the obelisk surface were names carefully inscribed in small print. Makoto's heartstrings stretched painfully as her heart rate sped up to a quick tempo. She watched Kakashi stop off to its side and place a hand on top of it.

"Look at these names."

_'Already have, Hatake.'_ The bitter thought left her mouth dry with an equally bitter taste. Makoto immediately found that she couldn't look away from the names. So many. Too many. There could be three more at any time. And there was nothing Makoto could ever do about it.

"The names of these shinobi are recognized as heroes of this village," the Hatake finished.

In contrast to the tense atmosphere, Naruto perked up at the word 'hero'.

"Hey! That's what I want to become! A hero! I'm gonna get my name carved on that stone! Belie-"

"Naruto."

Everyone turned to Makoto, who had been silent until then. Sakura and Naruto froze while Sasuke stared at her, each in their own form of shock. Even Kakashi had turned slightly to look at the girl. Her voice had sounded strange, not at all like her usual sarcastic manner. It was like she had been forced to swallow something that had been as rough as sand paper and scratched up her throat in the process. Her bangs had creating a thick curtain between them all as she had ducked her head down, sufficiently blocking them from seeing all facial expression.

"They all died during active duty."

Naruto's face fell and he, along with Sakura and Sasuke, turned to Kakashi, who only nodded before turning back to the stone. His hand hadn't moved from the smooth rock.

"This is a memorial," Kakashi certified Makoto's statement. "My best friend's name is carved here…"

This new information only piled onto Makoto's strange behavior, thankfully diverting their thoughts from the girl herself. Slowly Makoto brought herself together and looked up at the man that stood in front of the KIA Memorial. A newly found respect seeped into the brunette's system.

"I'm going to give you guys another chance," said the silvered one, breaking the silence and turning all attention to him as he looked at them darkly. "After you eat, those who wish to challenge me to get the bells will have to work harder to get them, as I will make it harder to get the bells. But Naruto doesn't get any as punishment for trying to eat by himself. If any one gives him food, they fail immediately."

Makoto looked at the man in disbelief, respect flushed away at once. Kakashi's gaze turned darker still, bordering a full on glare targeted at the four Genin.

"I am the rules here. End of story."

Before anything could be said, the Jonin disappeared in a cloud of smoke. A second passed before Makoto stood swiftly, bento in hand, and walked over to the bound blonde, pulling a kunai.

"Wha-"

"Shut up," Makoto ordered, voice monotone.

Slicing the ropes with ease, Makoto stabilized her friend before roughly shoving the incased food onto the blonde's chest. When Naruto made no move to take it, Makoto stood rooted to the spot.

"Makoto," Naruto muttered quietly, using his friend's full name for the first time in a while. "You'll fail if-"

"I thought I told you to shut up."

This time, Makoto's voice softened at the edges as she looked up at the shocked blonde, grinning slightly.

"I know you're starving by now, Naruto."

"But you-"

"I had my chance," Makoto cut across. "Besides, since when do you abide by authority? And who says that just because mean, _old_ Kakashi says that I can't give you food, I'm not going to do it anyway?"

To the duo's surprise Sasuke spoke up.

"If you're going to help, you'll need your strength, " he pointed out. "Without strength from food you'll just be in the way when we all work together to take him down. And then you'll be a liability."

Makoto frowned, obviously not agreeing.

"I'm not taking your food from you, Uchiha."

The dark haired boy look at the oldest with annoyed eyes.

"Hold it," Sakura finally spoke up.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Makoto looked over at her as she addressed Makoto.

"Sasuke-kun and you need your food," Sakura told them. "I'll share my lunch with Naruto. Makoto, you eat yours. Sasuke-kun, you too."

The frown was still on Makoto's face while Sasuke considered this.

"Are you sure?" Makoto pressed the younger girl.

The pinkette just shrugged.

"I'm on a diet anyway."

Makoto looked over at Sasuke, who just looked back at her blankly before shrugging and taking back his pre-offered food. Switching her gaze back to Naruto, she repeated the question.

"I think it sounds like a good idea!" Naruto grinned, "Believe it!"

"Fine, fine." Makoto conceded, "I'm out-voted, I get it."

Plopping back down onto the ground, now holding her own specified bento, Makoto watched the others for a minute. Sasuke had already begun to eat his, while Sakura split hers evenly between she and Naruto. Though the three didn't notice, a true grin snaked its way onto her lips.

_'Maybe I could work with these three,'_ she thought idly, turning to her food.

The poor teen barely started to crack her chopsticks apart when there was a large explosion in front of the four. Kakashi's head popped out of all the smoke, thoroughly scaring all of them.

"YOU GUYS-" he roared at them, then stopped as all of the smoke cleared and continued in an oddly happy voice, "Pass."

Makoto peaked at the man in front of them from behind her limbs, arms up in an attempt to shield her face. He was leaned toward them with his fists on his hips and his showing eye was closed in a smile. She could have sworn she saw a small heart fly from under the fabric of his mask.

"WHAT?" Naruto and Sakura screeched, though only Sakura continued to ask, "Why?!"

"You guys are the first." Kakashi told them happily, "Everyone else would just do as I told. They were all morons."

Makoto sweat dropped at the blunt wording.

"A shinobi must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rues and codes of the shinobi world are called trash…" Kakashi trailed off, still smiling, but proceeded, "But you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades…are lower than trash."

All of that respect came rushing back from the metaphorical toilet it had gone down as Makoto chuckled, grinning.

"You crazy bast-"

"Language," Kakashi cut her off, wagging a finger at the teen.

Suddenly, the man did a double take at Makoto, who looked at him curiously.

"What?" she asked, now slightly irritable.

Kakashi arched his visible eyebrow and pointed at her.

"How'd you get that cut on your face?"


	4. Chapter 4

_**I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto owns absolutely everything that you recognize. Makoto, her family, and all of her family's original abilities, however, are mine. Any wish or want to use anything associated with them should be submitted as a request to me.**_

* * *

Makoto stared up at the sky through the branches of green-covered trees, laying on one herself. While you'd figure that it wouldn't exactly be the most comfortable thing in the world but the brunette had managed by laying so her spine was perfectly aligned with the wood, with one arm and one leg dangling off, the leg swinging slightly. The arm that wasn't hanging off was laid across her stomach while the unpreoccupied leg stayed straight across.

_'There are a lot of clouds out today.'_ The hazel eyed teen thought idly, _'I can see why Shik likes to watch them so much…'_

"What's the distance to the target?" Kakashi asked, voice echoing slightly across the radio.

"Five meters," came Sasuke's stoic answer. "I'm ready anytime."

Sighing, Makoto sat up and shifted into a frog like position.

"So am I," Sakura added.

"Hn," the oldest grunted, not quite willing to speak.

There was a moment of silence as the four waited. A shuffle could be heard across the radio before Naruto finally spoke.

"Me too."

"You're slow, _loser_."

"Hey-"

Swiftly growing impatient of what was becoming their constant bickering, Makoto quickly diverted their attention back to the mission at hand.

"Target moving," she informed them dully.

"Go!" the Hatake ordered.

Without hesitation, the four Genin followed their Jonin leader's word. But that didn't mean that they actually put any effort into it. At least, nobody but Naruto, who literally pounced on the target when he got close enough.

"Got'cha!" he yelled triumphantly.

As Sasuke relayed that they had indeed found the cat, Tora, and yes, there was a ribbon on its left ear, Makoto watched with bored amusement as said cat began to maul the blond. It was only after he shrieked for someone to help him and Kakashi, who joined them not long before, gave her a pointed look from behind his orange book that she moved to do so. Rolling her eyes, the oldest leisurely stepped toward the scuffle between Naruto and Tora, who seemed to be rather set on gouging out his eyes and had come close several times now.

Pausing a second's worth of time, Makoto swiftly shot out one hand and closed her fingers around the scruff of its neck. The brunette didn't hesitate as she brought the creature toward her in an attempt to better calm it. Makoto nearly growled when she felt a stinging sensation that came from one of the fingers on the hand not gripping the loose skin of the cat's neck. But, as that would alarm the feline in her arms further, she resisted as it calmed and nuzzled itself into Makoto's arms. A little bit of the irritation that plagued her melted away as the hazel eyed girl pet the feline a bit, prompting a quiet purr from the animal.

Makoto's teammates watched in mild interest, surprised at how she had easily handled it and how quickly the animal calmed. And the fact that she relaxed didn't go missed to them as they set off toward the Hokage Tower.

"Hey, Sakura," Makoto muttered after a few minutes of silent walking.

The pinkette startled. This was one of the few times that the other girl had actually called her by her that instead of Haruno or Pinky. Sakura looked over at the brunette curiously.

"Yeah?"

"Can you take Tora for me?"

The green eyed girl looked at Makoto curiously.

"Why?" she asked.

Makoto shifted the cat in her arms only to have it adjust so it was half on her shoulder, forcing the girl to carry it somewhat like an infant.

"I'm more of a canine person," the hazel eyed girl muttered, seeming to blink every second for a bit.

Sakura bit her lip as she relieved Makoto of the feline, looking over the brunette in the process. If the pinkette didn't know any better, she'd say that her teammate was a bit under the weather. Makoto had dark circles under her eyes, which were a bit unfocused and hazy, and was looking a little pale. Well, paler than normal at least, which only made the dark rings stick out more. Instead of picking up her pace to catch up to Sasuke, as she would have usually done, Sakura slowed hers to match the hazel eyed one.

"Makoto?" the younger girl spoke tentatively.

It took a second for the older to react.

"Mmm?" Makoto answered, eyes locked on the dirt below as it passed under her standard blue sandals.

The hummed response caused Naruto to also fall back and turn his attention to his friend.

"Ne, are you alright, Mako-chan?" the blonde asked, bright blues slightly concerned.

"M'fine," came the slightly slurred response. "Jus' tired."

As if to prove her words, Makoto yawned, causing her to stumble slightly. Sasuke and Kakashi had turned back to watch the fourth Genin of Team Seven.

"Why?" Naruto prompted.

At once, Makoto's disposition changed from tired to inverted as she toed the ground with one of her feet.

"I broke the number one rule for writers," she muttered.

Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances before the two shrugged.

"I reread one of my stories from chapter one." Makoto went on, "Big no-no. 'Cause I read it. And thought, wow, this is really bad, and decided to trash it. Immediately afterwards, I found a way to make it better but I'd already trashed it so I spent half the night trying to find inspiration for it and then the other half rewriting up to chapter ten."

While the other three sweat dropped, having expected a more important reason, Naruto winced and patted Makoto's shoulder. He'd found out about how Makoto liked to write a lot not long after meeting the girl and he knew it was a big deal to her, though he had never asked why. The only time he had, Makoto had just shrugged and changed the topic.

"How many chapters were there?" Kakashi finally asked from behind his book, being the first to recover.

"Around thirty-something." Makoto craned her neck to look at the sky before announcing quite randomly, "The sky's blue."

This time, all of Team Seven sweat dropped while Makoto just stared up at the sky, squinting slightly.

"I was under the strict impression that it was a brilliant shade of fuchsia," she muttered. "Dai-nii-kun told me so this morning."

A childish grin had spread across her face at the mention of her older brother.

_'After he told you that he and Emiko would be on a mission for several weeks,'_ a voice in the back of the youngest Wakahisa's head whispered.

"Ow," Makoto muttered.

Completely bewildered, her fellow Genin and Jonin leader watched her raise her hand and promptly pop the finger cut by Tora, who was happily purring in Sakura's arms, into her mouth. Sakura winced slightly.

"You don't know where Tora's claws have been, Wakahisa," she scolded, watching in both amusement and disgust.

Starting to shake off the fog of sleep, Makoto narrowed her eyes at the pink haired girl before turning toward Kakashi, wiping the saliva off of her finger and onto her pants without much care. This served to make Sakura wince, Naruto snicker, and Sasuke roll his eyes.

"Shouldn't we be at the Hokage Tower at this very moment?" Makoto deadpanned.

Once again sweat dropping, Kakashi pointed behind him. Following his thumb, Makoto blinked when she saw the doors to said Tower. Whirling around sharply, she scanned her surroundings and gaped slightly.

"When did we start walking again?" Makoto demanded.

Sasuke snorted and walked past their sensei and through the doors, soon followed by the Hatake himself, Sakura and Naruto. Makoto just stood there in disbelief.

"Seriously!"

"Come on, Makoto," came Kakashi's lazy drawl from behind the door.

Frowning, Makoto shoved her hands into her hoodie pockets and entered the building, just barely catching a glimpse of silver hair as her sensei walked up the stairs. Quickly following, the brunette got up there in time to see a rather large woman squeezing the life out of Tora the cat. She took a second to roll her eyes before walking over to stand a little behind and to the side of Team Seven's sensei. Kakashi glanced at her minutely before turning back to his book.

Makoto let her eyes wonder around the room, spotting the Hokage and her pervious sensei, Iruka Umino, sitting along a large table with many other shinobi, all receiving and writing down missions requested by the people there. She quickly buried the urge to wave at the scarred man.

"Now, Team Seven's next list of duties is to," the Hokage paused before naming them off, "babysit an elder's grandson, shop in the neighboring village, and help with potato digging."

Makoto winced. The next few things they had to do were as mundane as all of the things that they'd already done, all of them the lowest ranking of missions possible. It was grating on her nerves, which were already few enough lately.

"No! No, no, no! No thank you!" the blonde in front of her yelled, clearly as disapproving as she as he stood with his arms in an 'X'. "I want to do a more important mission! Find us a better one!"

"You idiot! You're just a rookie!" Iruka soon yelled back, standing swiftly with his hands on the desk as leverage. "Everyone starts with the simplest things and works their way up."

Patients finally running out, Makoto cleared her throat and stepped forward, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder before he could ask her what she was doing. The interruption was unforeseen and drew the all attention to her.

"Missions, as I understand them Umino-sama, are supposed to give us experience, correct?" Makoto asked, head tipped to the side and hazel eyes glinting.

"Yes, Makoto," the Academy teacher conceded. "That is correct."

The glint in the brunette's eyes turned mischievous though her voice stayed level, betraying nothing. While her teammates looked at her curiously, Makoto carried on.

"And whatever experience gained should help us later in higher ranked, therefore more dangerous, missions."

Though spoken calmly, and perhaps all too innocently, Iruka narrowed his eyes as this began to feel horribly familiar. There had been very similar face offs between the teacher and Makoto when she had been an Academy student. They had often gotten into discussions that bordered on heated arguments that mostly left Iruka speechless and gaping. The Hokage, however, looked at Makoto from beneath his white and red hat, puffing on the pipe in his mouth.

"Also correct," Iruka answered slowly. "Is there a specific point to these questions, Makoto?"

"Where is the experience gained in digging out potatoes, shopping, and babysitting?" Makoto finally asked, getting right to the point, voice turning blunt, "How could these 'duties' possibly give us experience that would help us in a _combative_ situation?"

A silence followed the girl's clearly rhetorical question. Kakashi coughed behind her, probably trying to fight off the urge to chuckle when Makoto had enough gall to use her pointer fingers for air quotes. Naruto stared at his friend next to him with a bewildered expression before grinning. Sakura also stared at their fourth teammate, though in shock at the obvious disrespect that Makoto had shown not only their ex-sensei, but the Hokage, himself. Iruka had taken to gawking at Makoto openly, not entirely unlike a goldfish out of water while said brunette stared at him with one eyebrow arched, hazel eyes glinting, arms once again crossed and hip cocked to one side. The only people in the room that seemed unaffected by the sudden act of defiance were Sasuke and the Hokage himself, the latter having only trained his eyes on the oldest Genin of Team Seven over the pipe in his mouth.

"It seems I must explain the relevance of these duties," the Hokage finally spoke, taking a puff from his pipe. "Everyday the village receives requests from babysitting, to assassinations."

The old man in white and red motioned to the papers on the desk in front of him.

"Each request is written down on these lists and divided into an A, B, C, D ranking based on difficulty." A pause and a puff. "The village is also divided based on skill. At the top is the Kage, then the Jo, Chuu, and Ge-nins. The missions are then handed to shinobi based on their abilities. If the mission is successfully completed, we receive payment from the client. Since you four have just become Genin, these missions are perfect for…"

The Hokage trailed off when he noticed that Team Seven hadn't been paying attention, their attention on a certain blonde that sat on the ground in front of them.

"Well, last night, I had pork ramen, so I figure that miso sounds good," Naruto rambled on to Makoto, who looked completely submersed in the conversation, along with Sakura, Sasuke, and even Kakashi, though they seemed to prefer to watch and listen than take part.

"Really? I'm actually kinda partial to chicken rather than miso," the brunette told him. "I mean, it just tastes so much better."

"But I haven't really had miso in a while!"

"Pay attention!" the aged Sarutobi snapped.

To Makoto's amusement, her sensei immediately snapped his attention to the leader of Konoha while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I…I apologize," the silver haired Jonin muttered, though if for Naruto or for himself was unclear.

_'He looks like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar,'_ Makoto mused to herself, grin widening when he sent her a one-eyed glare when he saw his student looking at him in entertainment.

"Yanno, Hatake-sensei," Makoto began, "one-eyed glares do nothing for your reputation."

"Between you and Naruto," he retorted as Naruto proceeded to yell at the Hokage and Umino, "I believe my reputation is already shot."

"Glad to be of service," she replied cheekily.

Sasuke snorted beside them and just as Makoto was about to round onto him, the Hokage once again spoke.

"Alright," he conceded.

Blinking rapidly, Makoto spun on her heel to face her superiors.

"Say what?" she muttered, clearly as shocked as the rest of Team Seven.

The Hokage paid no attention to their reactions as he motioned to one of the shinobi beside the door they had come through.

"If you want it that much, I'll give you a C-Rank Mission." The Hokage took another puff before continuing, "It's an escort and protect mission of an important individual."

Makoto narrowed her eyes at the old man while Naruto gave a loud cheer in response.

"Who?!" the blonde demanded. "A feudal lord?! A princess?!"

"Calm down. I'm about to introduce him."

Just as the Hokage finished his sentence, the door behind them opened and in came the shinobi from before, accompanied another man with a bottle in his hand.

"What's this?" he grumbled as he entered the room, eyes immediately on Team Seven. "They're all just a bunch of brats!"

Barely letting the remark slide, Makoto sized him up. He was older, probably in his mid to late fifties. His hair was gray and stuck up in what seemed like every direction and he had a moustache and beard that connected around his mouth that matched. The eyes behind his glasses were dark, scrutinizing, and somewhat blood shot from drinking. On his back was a large pack complete with a bedroll and a piece of rope was tied around his forehead with the end left to hang a few inches down on the left side of his face. A frown twisted itself on Makoto's face as she eyed the bottle in his hand with obvious disgust. If there was something that she hated more than people with superiority complexes, it was alcohol of any kind.

"Especially the shortest one with the super stupid looking face," the alcoholic, as Makoto had already labeled him in her mind, went on. "Are you even a ninja?"

"Hey, who's the short one with the stupid looking face!" the blonde laughed, looking from Sakura, to Sasuke, and then to Makoto, who hummed in response before standing next to Naruto, effectively managing to compare the four as they all stood in a line.

It was soon found that the tallest of them was Makoto, then Sakura, with around an inch's difference. After Sakura was Sasuke, who was an inch shorter than the pinkette. Last in place was Naruto, to his own horror, as he was a couple good inches shorter than Sasuke. As his temper rose and he charged at the man, Kakashi grabbed him by the back of his jumpsuit, not unlike how Makoto had done the day of the Jonin's survival test. Makoto couldn't help but crack a grin as the Hatake berated Naruto about not killing the client.

"Verizon wireless," she stated dreamily, "raising the bar."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the reference while Sakura slapped a hand to her forehead and groaned.

"I'm the super expert bridge builder, Tazuna," the man informed them. "I expect you to provide me with super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

Mentally wincing at the overuse of the word super, Makoto rolled her eyes. Kakashi let go of Naruto when it seemed that he wouldn't be attacking any one and turned to the Genin.

"We'll be leaving today," the Jonin informed them. "So head home, pack whatever you'll need for two weeks' worth. Meet at the gates in twenty."

Nodding, Makoto didn't hesitate to walk over to the nearest window and jump out. The reactions of her fellow Genin, Jonin leader, ex-sensei, and the Hokage were lost to her. She was already on autopilot to her small apartment, once again weaving through crowds, though without the chakra induced speed. Makoto's place wasn't far from the Tower so there wasn't much point in it.

Reaching her door in around a minute, the brunette unlocked and entered. Walking in, Makoto was met with the sight of a slightly messy dining and living room combo. Noting vaguely to clean it later, the brunette went past both the room and the enterance to the small kitchen. Stopping briefly to grab a toothbrush and toothpaste from the bathroom, Makoto continued down the hall, past the extra bedroom, and to her own.

Sighing almost inaudibly, the youngest Wakahisa grabbed a knapsack from one corner of her room and tossed it onto her bed. Makoto's mind wondered as she got a couple copies of her outfit from her drawers, along with a couple pairs of dark colored loose pants and large t-shirts for bed. Also grabbing several rolls of extra bandages, kunai, and senbon, she packed those too. Pausing for a minute, the brunette walked over to the bookcase adjacent to her bed against the wall, Makoto knelt. Casually, she browsed through several, thick binders for a minute before picking out the maroon and midnight blue colored ones. Walking back over to her bed, Makoto began to systematically arrange things.

At the bottom of the knapsack, the brunette put the binders on top of each other and face down. Next, she put in her clothes in with bed clothes on top. Each were folded as much as they could be to conserve space. On top of that, were the extra bandages and weapons. Makoto ran through the list in her head, thinking of any thing else that she should bring. Slipping the pack on halfway, the brunette walked into the kitchen and grabbed enough water bottles for everyone. Quickly reorganizing the pack so they fit in, Makoto clipped it shut and headed for the door.

On her way, she paused by the coffee table in the living room. On the glass surface was a medium sized scroll. The wax seal that kept is from unraveling was black and in the form of a rose bud with no stem. Makoto hesitated before walking over and picking the scroll up. The teen bit her lip, uncertain. It was a summoning scroll for the family katana that Emiko and Daisuke always left for her whenever they went on a especially dangerous mission. But there was the question on whether or not she should take it with her.

While it would be good to have, this was just a C-Rank. The most trouble expected was bandits and those can be easily taken down, even by Genin as normal bandits aren't shinobi. And it's not like they didn't have a Jonin coming with them. Not to mention she was just learning how to use the sword. Makoto and Emiko were barely into her fifth lesson. The most she could do was take it with her and train with it to the small extent that she could with the little knowledge she had, maybe get used to the weight difference to kunai, like she had to do with senbon. Growling at the conflicting thoughts, Makoto glanced at the clock to find that she'd been thinking about it for nearly five minutes now, which left her at least ten minutes to decide and get to the Konoha gates in order to be on time.

_'No point,'_ she finally decided, putting it down. _'It's extra weight I won't even be able to make use of.'_

Sliding on her backpack, Makoto briefly went through her checklist. When she found that everything was packed, she nodded and locked the apartment down before going on her way.


End file.
